E-Paper
Book Review: The Chenab Connection is a worthy addition to one’s bookshelf
The Chenab Connection by Baqir Shameem is a chronicle of relationships that triumphs against many odds.
The book opens well, with a woman at the wheel in a part of the Middle East where gunfire forms the backdrop of her going to the hospital. The frisson of fear in her mind transfers itself to the reader, especially if the reader is aware of the tinderbox situation in large parts of the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. The serenity inside the hospital’s maternity ward creates a telling contrast, showing us how life goes on even amid an eruption of violence.
However, the author is not quite able to retain the edgy style with which he starts. The book has its moments, such as the revelation that a suspected spy is actually a love-struck man who goes into hostile territory to look for his woman — a Bollywood moment, if there was one, and probably something that happens often enough in real life — and the time when Jaspreet, a married woman, boldly seduces Mike, a man to whom she is attracted. But overall, the book suffers from a lack of editing, perhaps a problem of it being self-published. A shorter length and fewer characters would have ensured more tautness in both plot and language. Even so, as a chronicle of relationships that triumph against many odds, it is a worthy addition to one’s bookshelf.
Follow @htlifeandstyle for more
